"Oh, come on!" Vilkar spoke as he opened another letter informing him of an unpaid electric bill. It was his second one, the next one will come with shutting the electricity in his shabby apartment. The problem was that he run out of money thanks to his most recent purchases.
As Vilkar stood in his old and rundown one-room apartment, he couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and resignation. The space was small and cramped, with barely enough room for a bed, a table, and a few chairs. The walls were peeling and stained, and the floorboards creaked with every step he took.
A single window on the far wall allowed a sliver of sunlight to filter in, but even that did little to dispel the gloom. The room was cluttered with old books and half-finished projects, and the air was thick with the smell of dust and neglect.
The bed was pushed up against one wall, with a threadbare blanket and pillow that had seen better days. A small table sat in the corner, surrounded by a few chairs that were just as worn and faded as the rest of the room.
Despite the dreariness of the space, Vilkar couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as he looked around. This was his home, after all, and he had spent countless hours here over the years, working on his projects and dreaming of adventure.
Vilkar lived in this apartment for about five years, it was given to him by the government as an aid for damages that he received from the dungeons.
"So it was already five years," Vilkar spoke remembering the faces of his family which he lost when the gates to the dungeons opened and the world was flooded by the monsters.
Humans were able to survive and thanks to those that awakened their special powers they were able to restart human civilization. And so city-states were created, and most were independent as travel between them was very dangerous.
Vilkar is living in the city of Malka, a relatively smaller city-state whose main source of income is its permanent dungeon, which is not unheard of but from what Vilkar was able to gather was rare for a city of this scale as most dungeons were a one-time thing which after the defeat of main boss would collapse they are called lesser dungeons as they are smaller in scale. But they posed a great danger if formed in the city because if not destroyed in time dungeon would collapse on its own and would spill monsters into the world.
Outside of city walls those dungeons spill and the monsters either fight each other if they are natural enemies or join together and create primitive tribes. The best example is orcs which are most prone to that. And if there were too many of them they would travel and attack different city-states.
On the other hand, there were dwarfs who after their first meeting with humans became friendly and even joined the cities and even created their own.
Most of them were awakened craftsmen as so they were a great help in rebuilding civilizations. Many of the first magical weapons were created by them.
Permanent or more commonly known as Greater dungeons on the other hand are multi-layered dungeons with multiple bosses. At the end of each layer is the main boss whose defeat opens a multitude of paths that lead deeper into the dungeon. One of the dangers of Greater Dungeons are wandering bosses which thankfully are rare but once again not unheard of, usually it ends with great treasure for those who defeat it or their deaths which is more common.
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Dungeons are full of danger but also of opportunities, be it powers or armaments imbued with magical properties, among which most famous are 'Twin Spears of Unmare' which were obtained by the city champion and leader of the Flaming Spear guild. Not to forget riches, be it gold coins that became a staple of most city-states or diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. Not to forget magic stones that fuel many of the new wonders that were created.
Flaming Spear is one of the great five guilds with the greatest influence in the city-state, then there are lesser guilds each with their individual power and influence.
Most of the people who dive into the dungeons are part of factions of Malka. Very few who enter are factionless as they provide for their members' great benefits. The only condition of acceptance is to be an awakened individual and one of the lesser sub-factions would take them.
One mustn't forget the different factions in the city, main three are the Coalition of Guilds which hosts a representative from each guild, Army of the city-state still holds great power but they mainly deal with threats from outside of walls. Then there is Treaders Circle, the gathering of merchants, craftsmen, and businessmen, and lastly, there are Underworld gangs but they are mostly fractured and as such unless provoked they are not big of a problem for the city as a whole.
Vilkar was one of the fortunate unlucky people who survived the opening of dungeons but did not awaken any powers. Thankfully city-state had granted him a new home and funds for his loss of home and family, and thanks to it he was able to live relatively comfortably. Even if he lived in one room apartment it was still more than many that were homeless or those that died to the monsters.
"I was able to buy a weapon at least," Vilkar spoke as he held a spear in his hands. It was a basic spear created by an awakened craftsman and imbued with greater durability so it should last for a longer period of time. Vilkar was able to buy this spear at a discount as it was previously used and its owner had died in battle. Even then he sold nearly all that he owned be it furniture or his mobile or pc. "Unfortunately I had no more money for armor or shield, but it is better this way as buying them would mean that I would have no weapon and ordinary forged weapons were very weak against monsters, even guns were effective only on the first few levels of the dungeon." Guns were heavily regulated by the army, and other factions did not fight against them as magical weapons and armor were much better.
Vilkar thought of getting a normal job which would be much safer but as time passed and being awakened become more common most of the positions that had any perks or benefits required him to be awakened. Him being an ordinary person meant that he could only get low-paying ones.
He understood that others would have taken them so they could continue to live with a roof over their heads and food before their mouths but Vilkar wanted more. He did not want to live in one room apartment, he did not want to eat cheap rations. Vilkar desired so much more from life and he will be damaged if he would not get it, so he decided to take fate into his own hands and enter the dungeons to find his riches.
While people could not simply walk into the dungeon in Malka city-state anyone could apply to be a dungeon explorer as it was the city's belief that anyone should be given an opportunity. But Vilkar knew that very few unawakened would survive their first dive into the dungeon he still held hope as some could awaken inside if they would defeat the strong monster.
For some, it was the only option, to take the power of a fallen monster for their own when they weren't granted their own. There was a difference between the naturally awakened and those who took their powers. Naturally awakened were no different from normal humans only difference was their abilities, as such by some it was viewed as superior for they were either chosen or of a higher breed than others.
Those who needed to earn their powers were split into two categories. People with enough money to employ others awakened to nearly kill the monster and let the unawakened deal last strike to kill it.
Then there were those without such a possibility and so they either gave up or went into the dungeon on their own most of the time dying to monsters.
But even then not every monster would lead to awakening, only a few special ones would grant it making it all more dangerous.